March 2019 MMA News Archive

Do you have a hot MMA story or news item that you have found and would like to share?
Then read our guidelines then post it to our MMA News Share Forum to have it display here for the community to read on this page.

Renato Moicano took some important learning lessons away from his loss to Jose Aldo earlier this year and hopes to get an opportunity to show those lessons against a top featherweight contender in the near future.
After putting himself on the cusp of a UFC title shot with a string of strong performances, Moicano (13-2-1 MMA, 5-2 UFC) experienced a setback against former longtime 145-pound titleholder Aldo (28-4 MMA, 10-3 UFC) when he was stopped by second-round TKO at UFC on ESPN+ 2 in February.

A featherweight bout between Bea Malecki and Duda Santana has been verbally agreed upon for the upcoming UFC Fight Night event in Stockholm, Sweden, on June 1, multiple sources told MMA Fighting following a report by Combate.

Amanda Nunes could be defending her UFC women’s bantamweight belt against Holly Holm next.
Two-division UFC champion Amanda Nunes will apparently defend her bantamweight title in May.
Just over month after knocking out then-women’s featherweight champion Cris Cyborg, Nunes’ next fight is being lined up. According to Combate’s report, the UFC is working to book the ‘Lioness’ against Holly Holm at UFC 237. This news comes just one day after Dana White said Holm vs. Aspen Ladd was not happening at UFC 235.

A pair of former welterweight champions will square off in a June 29 rematch as Tyron Woodley and Robbie Lawler have agreed verbally to meet at UFC Fight Night in Minneapolis.
UFC president Dana White confirmed the news to ESPN's Brett Okamoto on Wednesday with the bout scheduled to headline an ESPN card at Target Center.
Woodley (19-4-1) signed on for a relatively quick return after losing his 170-pound title via dominant decision loss to Kamaru Usman at UFC 235 on March 2. The loss snapped a seven-fight unbeaten streak for the 36-year-old Woodley.

Cub Swanson will face Shane Burgos in a featherweight bout at UFC Ottawa on May 4.
Promotion officials announced the matchup on Wednesday. UFC Fight Night 150 takes place at Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, and is headlined by a lightweight tilt between Al Iaquinta and Donald Cerrone. The card will stream on ESPN+.
Swanson will attempt to halt a three-fight losing streak in his showdown with Burgos. The Palm Springs, Calif., native has dropped successive bouts to Brian Ortega, Frankie Edgar and Renato Carneiro in his last three Octagon appearances. Prior to that, Swanson had reeled off a four-bout UFC winning streak April 2016 to April 2017.

UFC President Dana White’s plan is in motion.
The promotion today announced flyweight champion Henry Cejudo (14-2 MMA, 8-2 UFC) will take on bantamweight No. 1 contender Marlon Moraes (22-5 MMA, 4-1 UFC) for the vacant 135-pound title at UFC 238.
UFC 238 takes place June 8 at United Center in Chicago. The event’s main card airs live on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN+ and early prelims on UFC Fight Pass.

Stipe Miocic will have to wait.
Just hours after Jones teased a potential fight against the former UFC heavyweight champion, his real marching orders were unveiled: Jones is being targeted to defend his UFC light heavyweight title against Thiago Santos on July 6 at UFC 239. MMA Fighting confirmed the news Wednesday following an initial report by ESPN. Once finalized, Jones vs. Santos is expected to headline the UFC’s annual International Fight Week.

Marina Rodriguez has a new opponent for next week’s UFC event.
The unbeaten Contender Series alum, who was matched-up against Alexa Grasso at the UFC on ESPN 2 card in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on March 30, will now take on Jessica Aguilar, multiple sources told MMA Fighting,

Ray Borg’s road to his octagon return has been filled with hardship, so what’s one more hiccup along the way?
Borg (11-3 MMA, 5-3 UFC) has experienced a fight week opponent change with Kyler Phillips no longer on the card and Casey Kenney (11-1-1 MMA, 0-0 UFC) will step in to face the former UFC title challenger in a bantamweight bout on Saturday at UFC on ESPN 2.
UFC.com announced the change, but did not reveal a reason for Phillips’ withdrawal from the card.

McGregor's motivation to continue in the sport had been called into question over recent years, after his MMA inactivity and brief foray into boxing to fight Floyd Mayweather in 2017.
McGregor, who has never been far from controversy in his turbulent career, was charged in April 2018 with three counts of assault and one count of criminal mischief after police said he attacked a charter bus in New York carrying UFC fighters.

Fight fans were not disappointed last night (Sat., Mar. 23, 2019) at UFC on ESPN+ 6 live on ESPN+ from inside Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee, as former UFC lightweight champion Anthony Pettis made a successful welterweight debut by knocking out Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson with a superman punch in the second round (highlights here).
Fight of the Night: Bryce Mitchell vs. Bobby Moffett
Performance of the Night: Anthony Pettis
Performance of the Night: Randa Markos

Two former top lightweights will meet in a key welterweight clash in New York.
Rafael dos Anjos and Kevin Lee are set to fight in the 170-pound main event of UFC Rochester on May 18, officials told the Democrat & Chronicle. This will be Lee’s first welterweight appearance in the Octagon.

Former middleweight champion Luke Rockhold will move up to light heavyweight to fight Jan Blachowicz at UFC 239 on July 6 in Las Vegas, multiple sources tell ESPN.
Rockhold, also the former Strikeforce middleweight champion, most recently fought for the interim UFC middleweight title against Yoel Romero in February 2018, losing by third-round KO. He has stated publicly in recent months that he was open to a move up to light heavyweight due to a strenuous weight cut.

Tom Breese is out of his UFC London fight with Ian Heinisch.
Breese’s management confirmed the story to MMA Fighting following an initial post from Heinisch that stated that the British middleweight had been forced from the event due to health concerns.

An unbeaten Brazilian has joined the UFC.
Norma Dumont, winner of four MMA bouts in less than three years as a professional, has signed a multi-fight deal with the UFC, Dumont announced on her social media.

On Monday, Conor McGregor was arrested in Miami, Fla. on charges of strong-armed robbery and criminal mischief. Per the arrest affidavit, McGregor and the alleged victim, Ahmed Abdirzak of England, were both exiting the Fountainebleu Hotel (home of the world-famous nightclub, Liv) at around 5:20 a.m. Monday when Abdirzak attempted to take a photo of McGregor with his phone. McGregor allegedly slapped the phone out of Abdirzak’s hand to the floor, then stomped on it several times, before picking the phone up and walking off with it, and according to Abdirzak, that’s exactly what happened.

Conor McGregor has been arrested in Florida.
The former UFC two-division champion is being charged on two counts for allegedly smashing a fan’s phone early Monday outside a famous Miami Beach hotel, the Miami Beach Police Department confirmed with MMA Fighting.

UFC will make its return to Florida for a UFC Fight Night event on April 27, and while the main event isn't the one many had anticipated over the past few weeks, it's still a middleweight matchup that will draw in a lot of attention. UFC president Dana White confirmed to ESPN on Thursday that Yoel Romero will return to the Octagon in the main event to face off with Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza. This will serve as the rematch to their bout in 2015 which saw Romero emerge with a controversial split-decision victory.